Sibusiso Sithole's hat-trick helped sink the Lions 57-14 in Johannesburg on Friday night.
Sharks winger Odwa Ndungane scored the first two tries, which kick-started a host of other touch-downs for the visitors. Pieter-Steph du Toit, Lwazi Mvovo and Frans Steyn all breached the Lions' defence to get their names on the try-scorers list to raise the score to 31-0 at half-time.
The Sharks' momentum was carried into the second half, as replacement winger Sibusiso Sithole picked up three tries. The substitutes continued to make an impact as Lourens Adriaanse also made his way over the Lions' tryline.
The Lions never really threatened the Sharks' defence, but the home side were able to score two tries, with Stephan de Witt and Coenie van Wyk going over, which helped soften the impact of the scoreboard.
Sharks – Tries: Odwa Ndungane (2), Lwazi Mvovo, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Frans Steyn, Sibusiso Sithole (3), Lourens Adriaanse. Conversions: Pat Lambie (3), Fred Zeilinga (3).
Lions – Tries: Stephan de Witt, Coenie van Wyk. Conversions: Willie du Plessis, Van Wyk.
Lions – 15 Coenie van Wyk, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Stokkies Hanekom, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach (c), 11 Chrysander Botha, 10 Willie du Plessis, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Ruaan Lerm, 6 Warwick Tecklenburg, 5 Martin Muller, 4 Lourens Erasmus, 3 Bees Roux, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Subs: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Corné Fourie, 19 Stephan Vermeulen, 20 Hugo Kloppers, 21 MB Lusaseni, 22 Stephan de Witt, 23 Ross Cronjé, 24 JW Jonker, 25 Ruan Combrinck, 26 Deon Helberg.
Sharks – 15 SP Marais, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Pat Lambie, 9. Cobus Reinach, 8 Tera Mtembu, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Pieter–Steph du Toit, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis (c), 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Monde Hadebe, 17 Dale Chadwick, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Stephan Lewies, 20 Jacques Botes, 21 Ryan Kankowski, 22 Charl McLeod, 23 Fred Zeilinga, 24 Heimar Williams, 25 Sibusiso Sithole, 26 Jaco van Tonder.
Photo: Sabelo Mngoma/BackpagePix
